Under/Over Meme

[emmagrant01]

I usually don't do navel-gazing memes, but this seemed an interesting exercise.


1. Name a pairing in your fandom that you think is underrated.

In Star Wars: Ani/Ferus. Oh, but wouldn't more of that be nice? It's so reminiscient of Harry/Draco. I've written a little of it, actually. :-P

In Harry Potter: Harry/Neville. It can be done so very well, but few people write it. Especially post-OOTP, I think it's a promising direction to go.




2. Name a pairing in your fandom that you think is overrated.

In SW: Don't hurt me -- Qui/Obi. Maybe it's just because it's the OTP, and there doesn't seem to be mainstream support for other pairings. Maybe it's because it has a tendency towards being schmoopy (IMHO, of course). Don't get me wrong: I like a good Q/O fic, but I like it just as much as a good Obi/Ani fic.

In HP: Fred/George. It's not so much that twincest is a bit squicky -- it's just that it's so implausible. Most of the fics I've read have been smut for smut's sake. Fun to read, but it doesn't exactly advance the pairing when that's what it consists of.





3. Name one of your own fics that you think is underrated.

In SW: The Bodyguard. I am so frickin' proud of that fic, but I don't think it was well-received. I have a suspicion people read the first part, saw no mention of a character they were familiar with, and stopped reading. That's too bad, because I think it's the best Q/O fic I ever wrote.

In HP: Cherry Pink. I'm not claiming it's perfect, but I liked it. I think it didn't get a lot of response because it's femmeslash. I'm writing a Hermione/Ginny fic at the moment, and I'll be curious to see if it gets about the same response.




4. Name one of your own fics that you think is overrated.

In SW: The first season of QAJ, particularly the first half of the season. Helens and I were playing around, with little structure, and it wasn't until Jedi Rita came in and whipped us into shape that it started to take some form. It was towards the end of the first season that we finally figured out what we wanted to do with that story, but I think we'd lost a lot of readers by then. I was really proud of the second season, but we already seemed to have this reputation of being about meaningless sex and little more. That was true in the early days, and I cringe when I read some of those early episodes.

In HP: Hmmm... This is harder because I generally only post fic I'm proud of these days. If anything, I'd say A Little Thing, which started as an H/D drabble but ran away a little bit. I wrote it in ten minutes and posted it without having it beta-read. And people liked it! It got quite a few comments, when I thought it was just a throwaway ficlet. I was very surprised, though appreciative.

Comments

[angelofmercy.livejournal.com]

The body guard was excellent! (in so much that a qui/obi can be) :p

I promise you it's getting recc'ed around.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

It's always hard to know how widely read anything is. The SW fandom isn't as generous with feedback as is the HP fandom, so that adds another complication.

Thanks for letting me know, though!

[angelofmercy.livejournal.com]

Nope its not, and it's a shame...but it's been recc'ed to me several times....

Now if only there was more Bruck/Xan on the web...

[angelofmercy.livejournal.com]

And most everyone who recc'ed it to me knows I hate Q/O...and I still liked it.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

but it's been recc'ed to me several times

*blinks* Wow, really? Interesting.

And more Bruck/anyone would be great!

[lauramcewan.livejournal.com]

ha! I did a betaread of sorts on The Bodyguard and I think it was great!

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

There were a small group of folks who seemed to like it, which is great!

[jenab.livejournal.com]

In SW: Don't hurt me -- Qui/Obi. Maybe it's just because it's the OTP

I still like reading a bit of Qui/Obi but I really would love to see more pairings beside them. There are so many possible pairings, such as Bail/Padme, Obi/Ferus but they are really are to find.

I also think if there was more non Qui\Obi stories and more recgonition/support for them it would help keep the SW fandom alive and flourising. Otheir pairings mean other ways of looking at the characters and the universe and generating newer ideas.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

I agree -- and it's sort of a vicious cycle, because I would write more of them if I thought there were people to read them (because after all, there's a lot I want to write and it's easier to write the stuff people are enthusiastically requesting). And maybe there would be mroe people interested if people were writing, etc.

I have a feeling that Episode 3 will recharge some of us!

[sorion.livejournal.com]

Don't hurt me -- Qui/Obi. Maybe it's just because it's the OTP, and there doesn't seem to be mainstream support for other pairings

I quite like that pairing... But my favourite is still Obi/Ani. And I expect I'm going to get inspired, soon ^_~

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Yes, me too!

[lazy-daze.livejournal.com]

I loved Cherry Pink :D and yay more femmeslash!

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I like writing femmeslash, and I'd love to do more. There's so much to do, though! *whimpers*

[hazelhawthorne.livejournal.com]

I really liked The Bodygaurd. And Cherry Pink. People who skipped those two are really missing out.

Whatever happened to QAJ season three? QAJ is where I first found you and Rita and what originally made me friend you when I found your ljs. (and aren't I glad I did. *huggles Emma & Rita*) Luckily, well written, plotless sex kept me interested long enough to get to the plot parts. which, it just so happens, were very well written too. I had really gotten into the story and want to see what happens next. I love all of the stuff you guys are doing now, but is season three ever going to happen? Is QAJ dead?

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

QAJ is going to have a third season -- a mini-season really. We're writing it now, and it's coming along. All of us have been swamped with other things, so it's been a bit slow, unfortunately.

We plan to wrap up the storylines and finish off the series. I think we're shooting for a posting date later this spring, as the buildup to Ep 3 really takes off.

Thanks for asking!

[literaryll.livejournal.com]

with you on the wishing there was more harry/neville in the world

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Absolutley!

[nattybear.livejournal.com]

I loved Cherry Pink! I recced it as well, but I think you're right. Most of the people on my flist go for the M/M, too.

[amberleewriter.livejournal.com]

The first season of QAJ

While it's your right to think that your QAJ work is less than stellar I would have to disagree. In fact, I think that once Helens left the whole thing went downhill. Yes, QAJ got a reputation for being about meaningless sex and little more, but think about what's posted on the banner for the fic: "Hot sex. No limits." Readers (like myself) that stayed with you at QAJ stayed because it was unrepentantly smutty. I like that it was unrepentantly smutty! And while adding some plot elements and interesting pairing combinations to mix things up has been fun, I miss the days of shower blow jobs in the morning and everyone looking for an excuse to shag. Every fic, and every writer, has to grow. To me, what this comment really says is that you've outgrown writing smut for smut's sake and, in my mind, therefore outgrown the original purpose of QAJ (hot Jedi's fucking).

And speaking of QAJ, since no one has posted updates to the thing since, what is it now, this time last year, when is everyone just going to admit that the thing is dead and you've all moved on to other fandoms and pairings? I don't say any of this to sound critical or anything, I just think that those of us that actually used to enjoy reading QAJ kind of deserve at least a two line note saying that the party is over. Rita shows no signs of writing anything SW anytime soon. You are busy with the followup to LMH. Clara and Elocin both have their own epic fics running that I'm sure take tons of their time and Helens is long gone for the Establishment (among other fandoms). You guys are doing fun stuff and unless you are personally committed to making QAJ a priority it seems to me like what you're really saying up there is that you'd like to just see the project fade into the sunset. There's nothing wrong with that either. I've left plenty of stuff out there in other fandoms that I hope to finish or wish would have worked out but once I knew that I just didn't have the muse or will to finish I just told everyone I was taking the ball and going home.

So think that QAJ is overrated if you will, I certainly wouldn't call it literature, but I think it more than lived up to it's billing. *shrugs*

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

My favorite QAJ episodes are from the second half of the first season and the first half of the second season -- basically starting around the time Xanatos shows up. I think that's mostly because *I* was so into it then. After Helens left, it felt more like an obligation for me. And working in new writers proved to be MUCH more difficult and traumatic than I ever expected. It took some of the fun out of it, to be honest.

We're actually working right now on a "Dynasty Reunion" version of Season 3. We're plodding along on it, but hope to have it ready to post around when Episode Three comes out, if not sooner. I thought Rita made an announcement about that a month or so ago, actually.

no one has posted updates to the thing since, what is it now, this time last year

Well, that's not quite true -- Season Two ended in June last year. We had planned to start Season Three in the fall, but there were some serious personal differences within the writing team, and it basically fell apart in a painful, messy way. It was only recently (and due to Rita, really) that we committed to finishing it. We have a plot synopsis and the writing has begun!

Thanks for still being interested in it, though! It's definitely motivating to know that people are still interested in seeing how the story ends.

[amberleewriter.livejournal.com]

It's definitely motivating to know that people are still interested in seeing how the story ends.

I guess that's just it. I'm not interested in "seeing how the story ends." You guys just wrote good smut and I'm interested in reading some new smut so I check to see if you've posted anything. All the plot was nice but if it crowds out "Hot sex, no limits" like the end of the "season" seemed to do, then I'll be happy to keep reading Helens stuff at the Establishment instead.

And call me silly but what, exactly, is a "Dynasty Reunion?" Are you making some kind of allusion to the old TV show called Dynasty? The only one of those things I remember is Dallas because of "who shot JR" and the "Pam wakes up in the shower" things. ^_^ Please tell me Obi will have dreamed all of last year so we can get back to the Jedi screwing around!

Honestly, you folks that co-write with people simultaneously astound and perplex me. I couldn't imagine giving enough creative control to anyone to co-author something. When I come up with something and start writing I've found that things take turns I never expected. If I had to check with someone else every time I wanted to throw a curve ball into my plot line (or my mused wanted to, depending on your outlook) it would drive me nuts. And being forced to write characters in someone else's "voice" or style would be a total no-go. I certainly respect those of you that can manage it on a regular basis but the idea of doing it seems to foreign to me that I can't even wrap my head around it.

Season Two ended in June last year.

And now we're at mid-February. I'd say, if you're lucky, you might be able to put something out by March. June, July, August, September, October, November, December, January, February, March... that's nine months. Three short of a year. Seven months past the posted month on the site that you'd be putting up the new "season." And you're talking up there about not putting things out until EP3 is released? That's May. That's a year, my friend. While I signed up at the list about a month ago just to see if someone had posted an update about when the story might resume, I'm sure there are lots of people like me that just checked the website. I'm not one to join a lot of lists. It gets time consuming. Now that I have an idea of what's going on I'll unsub but it might be nice to update the website so it no longer says that the new season will "being September 12th, 2004." Just a little suggestion.

Good luck with it. I hardly have time to work on the stuff I have open. With you and Rita being so involved with HP now I honestly figured you'd just let QAJ go into the ether for lack of time and interest.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

I guess that's just it. I'm not interested in "seeing how the story ends."

Then what are you bugging me for??? ;-)

And call me silly but what, exactly, is a "Dynasty Reunion?"

Ah, a semi-obscure cultural reference: the TV show Dynasty was unexpectedly cancelled in the summer, after they had left the last season on some horrible cliffhanger. So it was never resolved and the show just disappeared. The producers managed to get a "reunion special" together in 1990 that brought back the cast and resolved that storyline. That's sort of what we're doing. We would all have been content to let it go, I think, but we felt an obligation to ourselves to finish the story and not leave it at the cliffhanger we did. We couldn't get our acts together enough last fall for a regular season (and I'm not going to say any more about what happened, other than that it wasn't fun), but we decided we could write a fic to finish it up. So it's like the Dyanasty reunion special, in that sense!

That's a year, my friend.

I was looking at your sentence that seemed to say we had done nothing on it since this time last year. And I was thinking, "Man, I was working my ass off on QAJ all last spring, even posting the last part during my family reunion in June! Whaddya mean, a year?" It feels like ten years, sometimes.

I feel extremely ambivalent about QAJ, and conversations like this leave me with very mixed feelings about it, to be honest. I've changed a lot as a writer since it started back in 2002, and it's really hard for me to get my head around some of it now. I have different writing interests these days, even within SW fic. Not to mention that there are other big projects I'm working on, and thaht all of this takes place in my spare time. Not that you're not in the same position -- I'm just sayin'.

It seems like people will either not like what we write to finish it, or will complain that it was anti-climatic after all this time, or will ignore it completely because they're bitter that we took so long to get it done. I honestly don't expect us to get any praise or fangirling for it. Which sort of begs the question, why bother?

I'm finishing it for myself, I guess. There's really no other reason to write, when it comes down to it. :-P

[amberleewriter.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry that you see me bringing this up in response to your post as "bugging" you about it. I just wanted to know when a post or update to the website might indicate what was going on; mostly because I have some idea of what's been happening and because you brought it up in this post. Frankly, as someone that enjoyed QAJ before all the changes started to have the author basically say that they think that the work of theirs that I enjoy reading is junk gets me a little prickly. So if I'm "bugging" you about it it's because you kind of pushed a button. My interest here has little to do with the story and more to do with the fact that I perceived a slight to your "fangirls." I guess it's just seemed to me that the bunch of you have moved on and the fact that the website hasn't been updated since sometime in August to reflect the changes in scheduling is, honestly, a bit disrespectful to your readers.

Now before I go and completely piss you off (hopes I have not) I'll say that it's your writing and your story to do with as you like. If you finish it or not is your business. If the group of you want to change things, add characters and plotlines, it's your call. I have to say that I really respect this comment:

I'm finishing it for myself, I guess. There's really no other reason to write, when it comes down to it.

Exactly. It doesn't matter if I like it, if you get fangirls out of it, or if someone else find's it a letdown. Write what you want, when you can, and deal with the rest as it comes. I've got people that have been pestering me to finish fics for two years. I know that no matter what I do at this point it's all kind of pointless. And, at some point, I'll go back to my old fandoms and finish the work. I'll do it for the same reason I've ever written a single word - because it's my creation and I'd like to see it finished.

If you never finish QAJ you aren't going to hear me bitch. I'm only going to ask about it once, and I've just done that. However, I'd never have bothered to bring it up at all (even in spite of your post) if the website had, at least once in all these months, reflected that there would be a pause or stop in production. To then see you posting on your LJ that you think of QAJ as overrated work kind of leads someone to make some assumptions that you might not want them to make. In short, I felt that if I was thinking this stuff then people that knew a lot less than I do might be thinking the same thing. I figured that pointing it out might help clarify the situation for those of us that happen to have liked it and might have gone WTF? when they saw this post.

So now that I'm sure I've been branded a bitch, I'll just stop chewing on my foot. ^_^ This is why I never send feedback and try to remain a lurker. All I do is annoy people by bringing up things they don't want to talk about.

*going back to the lurk hole*

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

We seem to be talking past each other here!

If you look at my comment above, you'll see that the part of QAJ I don't think is my best work is the first half of the first season. About halfway through, I think it becomes a really interesting series. Before that, it was just a set of related PWPs, and not much more. And there's nothing wrong with that -- but the stuff that came after is writing I'm still proud of. That was what this whole thing was about in the first place.

People like different kinds of fic for different reasons, so I'm not surprised that there are people who liked QAJ when it was PWP-ish, and stopped liking it when we tried to have a plot. But it was going to evolve, or we were going to stop writing it, so that would've happened even if we had kept our schedule.

And sorry the website hasn't been updated. That is sheer laziness on my part, but hey -- I've been busy. And every time someone has asked about it online, we've replied back (onlist) and have explained the situation and what our plans were. There have been many posts about this on the QAJ list and a few on MA as well. So I don't think it's fair to suggest that we've ignored and disregarded the fans of the series. I promise that we're doing the best we can!